The Founding Mission

26.08.2010

Bishop Pompallier and the early Marists came to the South Pacific with a visionary spirit. They were joined by others who arrived with a strong sense of mission. The life and work of these exemplary people left indelible memories in the hearts of our ancestors to whom they were sent and among whom they lived and died.

The enduring respect shown to Bishop Pompallier at Motuti, in the far north, is a strong reminder to Kiwi Catholics of the founding mission from the 1830s. Small Maori communities have certainly not forgotten the person who first brought the Gospel.

Somehow, the wider Catholic community in New Zealand is still called, both in spirit and in pilgrimage, to the Hokianga, the cradle of mission in this land. The vision of the founding mission surely shapes church culture in every parish today.

For a century and more, the emerging church in Aotearoa New Zealand was characterized by a remarkable mission-minded spirit. Parishes and schools were established with purpose around mission.

The church was essentially a missionary community. The vision was outward as much as inward. Positive achievements were celebrated and negative realities were faced. Each new generation was encouraged to play a cooperative role as partners in mission with people, places and situations in need.

Fr Michael Gormly is the Columban Coordinator at Lower Hutt, New Zealand.

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